I think one of the best things we could do would be to help women/parents/families discover their own birth power, from within themselves. And to let them know it's always been there, they just needed to tap into it.

Kathy

I was fortunate to grow up with parents who were very positive about birth. As a child, my earliest recollections of birthing women came from experiences I shared with my mom -- tagging along with her as she assisted women in the days following their births. Most of the women had birthed with little or no medical intervention, and I was struck by how peaceful they looked and how connected they were to their newborns. Those experiences in my young life have stayed with me, and they set me on the path for a well rounded childbirth education class, and a birth team that would empower me through my pregnancies and births.

I am certified through CAPPA, and have been a childbirth educator since 1981. I also enjoyed being a doula for 14 years -- a wonderful time of learning just how unique each labor really is. In teaching for 37 years, over 5,000 couples have taken this series. The passion for educating couples about the amazing process of childbirth has never dimmed!

Personally, my own 4 birth experiences were amazing. Of course they required hard work, but I felt supported, nurtured, and empowered. What made all the difference was surrounding myself with the right support team, and learning to surrender to the powerful process of labor.

My firstborn is now a married man with two children of his own. It was truly a gift to watch these precious little ones come into the world, watching their parents work together, not in a dynamic of fear and resistance, but in a dynamic of trust -- working with baby and with her body to bring about their children's births. In December '12, my daughter birthed twin girls! I watched with pride as she patiently worked with these sweet little girls to help them learn to breastfeed... sometimes tandemly. What a journey it has been for both her and her husband!

In addition to teaching two-three 9-week series each week, I teach prenatal nutrition for the Del Mar Birth Center in South Pasadena, offer one-evening refresher classes for couples giving birth again, and have given presentations to various support groups and colleges in the area, often speaking on: Choices in Birth and the Affect these Choices Have on Mother/Infant Bonding.